Hero
by Ithilwen Faelivrin
Summary: They were both outcasts within their respective worlds. Two halves of a whole. Yin and Yang. He was hated and reviled when he should have been hailed as a hero. She was loved and placed upon a pedestal so that her purity would not be stained.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** They were both outcasts within their respective worlds. Two halves of a whole. Yin and Yang. He was hated and reviled when he should have been hailed as a hero. She was loved and placed upon a pedestal so that her purity would not be stained.

**Warnings: **Slight gore

* * *

Naruto both cherished and detested these stolen moments. He never knew if they would see each other again, if that would be their last time together. First, she had been a friend who sheltered him and nurtured him when he was young. Every time he had been abused and hurt, she would make the pain go away. When he said that he was going to become the Hokage, she believed him and helped him train even though she knew nothing of the ninja way. When Naruto discovered the existence of the Kyuubi within, it didn't matter to her. Even then, she didn't see him as a monster. Her words had been, "But you're still Naruto."

He always knew when she was there; he could feel her presence in a way different than anyone else's. There was no way to explain it. If he would try to, it would be like seeing the sun after a lifetime of darkness. No. She _was_ the sun. The sun, the moon and stars. Constant but ever changing. Life. She _was_ life.

Whenever he felt her appearing outside of their agreed times, Naruto ran desperately to the tree. _Their_ tree. Nearly every time it happened, she was wounded or in tears. So when she appeared far too early, days early, he just ran to their clearing. He could barely feel her; she was on the edge of his senses and was just…_fading._

The way to their oak seemed longer and harder than ever before. He was careless while running through the forest that hid the abandoned shrine where the oak stood. Branches cut into his face and the bark of the trees and sharp rocks left wounds on his body. Even so, he kept pushing chakra into his feet, pushing himself faster and faster. Her presence was even fainter when he reached the grounds of the deserted shrine. His heart was thundering in his ears and the very air seemed cold. An overwhelming feeling of despair began to fill him. He found out why when he reached the enormous oak that was inside of the shrine.

Lying at the base of the giant oak was a crumpled body in an ever growing pool of blood. Her head of dark brown almost black hair was matted and soaked with blood. The strange clothing that she wore was ripped and shred, soaked in blood. _Her blood. _

"No. No. No!"

Naruto gathered her up in his arms and searched for a pulse, a sign, anything, that said that she was alive. He couldn't lose her. Not her…he threw his head back and let out a keening wail as he held her closer to him. A small twitch in her ravaged chest caught his attention. She was still alive; there was still hope, a chance. Pulling on the power of the Kyuubi that slept inside of him, he ran, faster than he had to come to the shrine. She was counting on him; he had to get her to safety. He had to. He wouldn't let her slip away from him, not when there was a chance that he could save her.

"Tsunade-baa-chan. Save her. Please."

Just as the Hokage was about to yell at Naruto for calling her Baa-chan, she processed the rest of his sentence. Brown eyes looked up in shock at the blonde carrying a bleeding body, even as she began to heal the most serious wounds of the young girl in Naruto's arms. The wounds were numerous and deadly enough that by all rights, the girl should have already been a cold, unmoving corpse. When she had stabilized her, it was only then that she deemed that it was safe enough to move the poor girl to the hospital.

"Alright Naruto, explain."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:** They were both outcasts within their respective worlds. Two halves of a whole. Yin and Yang. He was hated and reviled when he should have been hailed as a hero. She was loved and placed upon a pedestal so that her purity would not be stained.

**Warnings: **Slight language

* * *

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

An annoying noise wouldn't allow her to remain in the realm of Morpheus and forced her to greet a loathed reality. Before she allowed herself to start wondering as to what had happened and come up with distorted conclusions, she forced her eyes to open.

White walls. A white ceiling. The smell of disinfectant, blood (_old and new_), the beginnings and endings of life wafted to her.

_Hospital_.

She was in a godsdamned _hospital_. Even as she was cursing in her mind, she ripped out needles (Did they draw blood? They couldn't have, could they?) and unplugged herself from the annoying machine, barely wincing at the pain throughout her body as she moved out of the bed she had been in.

She wasn't fool enough to attempt to leave through the door first and so made her way to the window.

It wouldn't budge. When she turned her attention to the door, it wouldn't budge either. She cursed again. It was then, while her powers rose in anger, that she noticed the hidden seals that blocked her means of escape. It was possible for her to destroy them, but she wasn't sure if whoever had placed them there were already on their way. Even so…there was still the matter of _when _and _where _she was…

She wasn't in the Modern Era.

She wasn't in the Sengoku Jidai.

That left only one possible option.

She was in _his _world.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: They were both outcasts within their respective worlds. Two halves of a whole. Yin and Yang. He was hated and reviled when he should have been hailed as a hero. She was loved and placed upon a pedestal so that her purity would not be stained.**

**Warnings: Slight language**

* * *

"Her name is Kagome."

_She isn't in a cage. She's free to leave anytime she chooses. We are merely protecting her._

"We met each other at the abandoned temple in the forest. We met there, at the Goshinboku."

_She was free. She didn't belong to anyone. But everyone belonged to her._

"It was easy to see that she wasn't from Konoha. She wasn't from the Land of Fire. She wasn't from here."

_Her home was in the stars, the sun and the moon. Her home changed with the turning of the tide._

"She…we…made up a schedule of when we would meet. I had the Academy and she…she had her _duty_. We never told each other anything important. Anything that could endanger the other."

_I was ridiculed. She revered. Neither of us had peace. _

"I always knew when she was there. We had a schedule, barely broken."

_How could one not know when she was present? The Kyuubi knew when she was there, always. She was a light in the darkness of the world._

"So I knew, when she was days early, that something had happened. So there was no choice but to break the oath. I brought her to you."

Red began to bleed into normally sky blue hues as jagged wounds on soft flesh entered Naruto's mind. She had almost _died! Damn the duty bestowed upon her!_ It was finished, she would not go back, she would be protected, _here_, in _Konoha_, in the _Land of Fire_. Nothing would take her back _there_. He would make sure of it. Nothing from _that _place would harm her again. Even if the Well, the Shrine, the Tree and the very Forest would have to be destroyed. He would destroy it, _for her_.

They would give everything for her.

_Everything…_

They would do anything for her.

_Anything…_

Naruto's head snapped up, gore filled thoughts dispersing from his mind as he heard near frantic rustling in the room next door. She was awake. She was alive. Before the Hokage could say a word, he was already gone, inside the other room, where Kagome had been placed after her wounds had been treated.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you everyone for all the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter and it's slightly ambiguous tone!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary: They were both outcasts within their respective worlds. Two halves of a whole. Yin and Yang. He was hated and reviled when he should have been hailed as a hero. She was loved and placed upon a pedestal so that her purity would not be stained.**

**Warnings: Slight language**

**Author's Note: Some were saying that they were having trouble viewing Chapter Four, so here it is again. **

* * *

Naruto reached the door to where she was. He wrenched it open and caught the fist that was making its way to his face.

Well…that meant she was better. He should have remembered, she abhorred hospitals and she didn't know where she was. Did she even remember reaching their meeting place? He should have stayed by her side, he should have been there when she had woken! Again he had failed her…

"Na…ruto?" Her blue eyes blinked in surprise as she was pulled into a warm chest. "_Naruto!_" Her guard went down as she realized who it was that was standing before her in that silly black and orange jumpsuit of his. _Safe_. She was safe. He wouldn't let them do anything to her; he wouldn't let them find out anything. _Safe_. There had been nothing to worry about…nothing…

She hadn't been captured, she hadn't been kidnapped, she hadn't been taken prisoner.

She was safe.

Lightly, he ran his fingers along the planes of her body, searching for any unhealed wounds and scratches. Satisfied that she was completely healed, he turned his gaze towards her face. What he saw there made him want to take her deep into the forest surrounding Konoha and hide her from everything and everyone.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so-" He'd failed Sasuke and now, he'd failed her too.

"It's over. It's no longer broken." The empty blue eyes closed, hands tightening their grip on the fabric of his clothes. "There's nothing to be sorry for. It's over." She fell to her knees, as if she were realizing the words that were falling from her mouth. "It's no longer broken. _It's over!_"


End file.
